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By Elliot SpagatASSOCIATED PRESS • Friday August 23, 2013 7:55 AM

SAN DIEGO — A California teen whose mother and brother were killed by a family friend said on
national television yesterday that she once confided with the man about troubles with her
mother.She also explained text messages the two exchanged on the day of the attack.

Police say James Lee DiMaggio, 40, abducted Hannah Anderson and fled to the Idaho wilderness
before he was killed by authorities.

In an interview on NBC’s
Today show, Hannah didn’t describe her interactions with DiMaggio during the manhunt or
offer details to explain why he might have unleashed such violence.

In her first news interview since her dramatic rescue on Aug. 10, Hannah said she wrote to
DiMaggio about a year ago as he guided her through a rough patch with her mother.

“Me and him would talk about how to deal with it, and I’d tell him how I felt about it, and he’d
help me through it. They weren’t anything bad. They were just to help me through tough times,” she
said.

Hannah said she exchanged text messages on Aug. 3 with DiMaggio before she disappeared about
where he should pick her up from cheerleading practice. Her statements corrected a search warrant
that said the pair exchanged about 13 phone calls.

Hannah’s disappearance triggered a search for DiMaggio that spanned the western United States
and parts of Canada and Mexico.

Christina Anderson, 44, was found dead near a crowbar and what appeared to be a pool of blood in
the garage of DiMaggio’s home in Boulevard, a tiny town about 65 miles east of San Diego. The
remains of Ethan Anderson, 8, were discovered in the rubble of the home, which was destroyed by
fire.

Hannah was at turns defiant and shaken in the NBC interview, declaring that she’s a survivor and
plans to try to out for varsity gymnastics this year but breaking down when asked to describe her
younger brother.

“In the beginning, I was a victim,” she said, “but now knowing everyone out there was helping, I
consider myself a survivor instead.”

Hannah said the ordeal drew her closer to her father, who flew to San Diego from his Tennessee
home after the search was launched.